Predator and Prey

[m_galathea]

Hi folks,
I had a superb (and educational) walk around Dunsford Wood yesterday. I've prepared a slideshow which I hope you'll find interesting. Just press "Next Photo>>" at the bottom of each photograph. There are 17 photos in total.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26481248@N04/2482975396/

Alexander

[Trev Sawyer]

Woah! That's incredible .
Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "caught on the job" and shows you have to be VERY careful where you choose to "indulge" if you are a butterfly. The same probably applies if you are human , but thank God ants don't get much bigger!
Just shows how cruel nature can be too, but that's life I suppose. Great record shots of this behaviour - well done.

Trev

[Padfield]

Those are stunning pictures. I've been watching nature close-up since I was a small child and it still moves me when I see dramas like this played out.

I've posted this before, but in the light of your recent ant observations, Alexander, what do you make of this mating-butterflies-with-ants video I took last year? The butterflies are idas blues and the video is slowed to half speed so the movements are easier to follow. Do you think it is an attack, like yours, or something else?

http://www.guypadfield.com/movies/idasant073.wmv

Guy

[m_galathea]

hmmm, I think it could quite possibly be an attack; the ants seem incredibly keen to get to the butterflies and what's more the male goes mad when one eventually gets across. To me it seems that the male is trying to leave, but possibly there is an ant out of sight holding them there. I don't have a clue what could be going on with the leg movements though.

[Padfield]

I suspect you're right. I had wondered if this was some weird aspect of the blue/ant relationship - idas blues are particularly ant-dependent - but your pictures inclined me back to the simpler attack theory. I wonder if ants regularly take advantage of male butterflies when they are mating. The female suspects nothing and so clings to the plant, while the male is hampered by being attached to her.

G

[m_galathea]

Your theory about ants targeting mating males is a possibility, but I think the PBF I saw was female. You might be able to correct me on that front though. AH

[Padfield]

No, I think I just misunderstood the story. The butterfly in PBF3 is the female, as you say. If that's the one they got, then you are right. I read it as if she was left and the ants went off with the other. Oh dear. That makes it so much more tragic. The male doing his bit for the future of the species and sacrificing himself, leaving the fertilised eggs brimming with his chivalric genes - that would have been a better ending.

Guy